What Is Marketing?

Marketing more than any other Business function, deals with customers. Although we will soon explore more detailed definition of marketing perhaps the simplest definition is this one: Marketing is managing profitable customer’s relationships. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and keeps and grew current customers by delivering satisfaction.

Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest retailer and one of the world’s largest companies by delivering on its promise. “Always low prices. Always!” At Disney theme parks, “imagines” work wonders in their quest to “make a dream come true today.” Dell leads the personal computer industry by consistently making good on its promise to “be direct.” Dell makes it easy for customers to custom-design their own computers and have them delivered quickly to their doorsteps or desktops. These and other highly successful companies know that if they take care of their customer’s market share and profits will follow.

Sound marketing is critical to the success of every organization. Large for profit firms such as Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Target, Apple, and Marriott use marketing. But so do not for profit organizations such as colleges, hospitals, museums, symphony orchestras, and even churches.

You already know a lot about marketing it’s all around you. You see the results of marketing in the abundance of products in your nearby shopping mall. You see marketing in the advertisements that fill your TV screen, spice up your magazines, stuff your mailbox, or marketing in almost everything you do. Yet, there is much more to marketing than meets the consumer’s casual eye. Behind it all is a massive network of people an activities competing for your attention and purchases.